The present invention relates to a data terminal device which processes data pertaining to items ordered as part of a fast food or other type of merchandising operation and more particularly to a checkout operation utilizing a touch screen for displaying a receipt listing the items sold, currency denominations representing possible customer payments for the purchased items and the change due the customer in response to the customer's payment.
Today's developments of point of sale terminal devices include a touch screen, the use of which transfers the function of the keyboard to designated portions of the touch screen. As part of this new development, electronic receipts have been employed which display a list of the items ordered together with functional elements for manipulating the items listed in the receipt. In order for the operators to use these functional elements, more interface objects have been added to the point of sale devices control panel. These interface objects or controls (keys, buttons, knobs, etc.) take up space and are usually laid out close to one another so as to keep most in one location. Until the operators become familiar with the terminal devices control panel layout, much time is spent searching for the appropriate controls. To reduce this search, designers have grouped related buttons, used color coding, etc. Where an electronic receipt is displayed on the touch screen, the size of the typical receipt item is small thereby precluding the use of the human finger as a means to modify the item. At the end of the checkout operation, the total amount of the purchased items is displayed on the touch screen and identified as the payment due by the customer for the purchase of the merchandise items. In most checkout operations the customer will present a currency bill whose denomination is larger than the amount due requiring the operator to enter the payment received from the customer into the terminal device. Upon actuation of a total key on the terminal device, the amount of change due the customer is then displayed requiring the operator to retrieve from the cash drawer located in the data terminal device the number of bills and coins which constitute such change. It is during this payment operation that most of the errors associated with checkout operations are found.
It is therefore a principal object of this invention to provide a method for processing the payment for purchased merchandise items which includes a display for displaying possible payment amounts that may be submitted by the customer for the purchased merchandise items. It is another object of this invention to provide an electronic receipt displayed on a touch screen which allows a receipt item to be easily modified by the operator's finger. It is a further object of the present invention to provide the display of an electronic receipt which includes scrolling buttons which will scroll the receipt when actuated by the operator's fingers. It is another object of this invention to provide a system for dispensing change to a customer which reduces the occasion to make errors in distributing the bills and coins that constitute the change due the customer. It is a further object of this invention to provide a system for displaying the change due which reduces the number of keystrokes required by the operator in processing the payment of the items purchased by the customer which reduces the number of keystrokes required by the operator in processing the payment of the items purchased by the customer.